Both of my parents were Holocaust survivors who were children in Berlin when it all started. My father died a long time ago, but to this day, my mom has far worse feelings towards the Poles than the Germans, and she ain’t real fond of the Germans.
I have always felt that Martin Luther’s teachings were the single biggest reason for negative attitudes towards Jews in Europe. When you exhort your followers to burn down the synagogues and kill the Jews you get those kinds of results.
Doubtful. Most Europeans are woefully ignorant of their religious heritage and couldn’t tell you who martin luther was, and yet are virulently anti-semitic.
Hard for me to swallow the Martin Luther argument. Firstly, it predates him. Secondly, there are other denominations. Poland, which is supposed to be so dang racist, was Catholic, wasn’t it? Germans didn’t get around to exiling them (into death) until 400 or so years after Luther, whereas Catholic Spain chucked them out during the inquisition. Which I guess could be blamed on Luther in a backwards way, since he is thought of as sparking the heresies against which the inquisition was reacting.
Most Poles are Lutheran? Learn something new every day!
Incidentally, many of Luther's statements about Jews and Judaism aren't any more vitriolic than what Jewish sacred writings have to say about Gentiles. But it's all about whose ox is being gored, isn't it?